Monday, March 6, 2017

Empowering Women - Lady Gaga

Lady Gaga wasn’t always understood when
she first rose to musical power. Her outfits were crazy and her performances
and videos were controversial. I always liked her, though, because I
appreciated her creativity and what she was doing.

Remember the legendary meat dress?

“If we
don’t stand up for what we believe in, and if we don’t fight for our rights pretty
soon, we’re going to have as much rights as the meat on our bones. And, I’m not
a piece of meat.”

Then there’s her first MTV VMA performance
for Paparazzi. At the end, she’s lifted into the air, bleeding and convulsing.

“I just knew I had to bleed to death for four minutes on TV…I wanted to say
something about how the celebrity sort of has this inevitable demise that we
love to watch. But are we killing them or are they killing themselves?”

In 2011, she debuted her song “Born This
Way,” a song about love and equality. From the beginning, she fought for LGBT rights. She wrote “Born This Way" in ten minutes
and recorded it around the world on her tour bus. This song isn’t just for the
LBGT community, though, but for people of all races. What about the
video and that egg she journeyed in down the red carpet:

“…birthing a race within the race of
already existing cultures of humanity—that bears no prejudice and no
judgement.”

She started the Born This Way Foundation
to help teens struggling with depression and to feel comfortable in their skin.

In recent years, she gained considerable
recognition for her tribute to Julie Andrews, her National Anthem performance
at Super Bowl 50, her tribute to David Bowie, and her role as the Countess in
American Horror Story: Hotel, for which she won an Emmy.This year she did the Halftime Show for Super Bowl 51, and in my opinion it was the best Halftime Show ever. She opened it by singing "This Land is Your Land" while a fleet of drones created the American flag behind her. And it was neat to see the dance moves from her music videos come back to the stage.

At the 2016 Oscars, she performed “Till it
Happens to You,” her song dedicated to victims of sexual abuse. Gaga was sexually assaulted when she young....

“I didn’t tell anyone for years because I didn’t tell myself
for years. And my soul was burnt out until it was gone. And then you have to
admit you were in pain, and that you died in a way, but you are in control to
bring it back, and there are people in the world who’ll help you.”

Please watch her Oscar performance. Every
time I’ve seen it, I’ve been reduced to tears.

I'm glad you picked her because I have a lot of respect for this crazy gal:) She is intelligent and pushes the buttons. My mom called her Lady Ca-Ca because, well, that's my mom:) She has great lyrics and the videos are saying something even if they are sexual and towards a violent way....she is saying something so she is a visual artist. The egg thing at the grammy's always cracks me up....um ...sorry:) She has a great voice as indicated by her CD with Tony Bennett and her singing the melodies from the Sound of Music.

I didn't know any of the back stories - I've always enjoyed her music, but thought she was a bit out there in terms of her outfits etc. Having read this blog I'm not overstating when I say you have transformed my view of Lady Gaga.

I'm not sure how I feel about her. Sometimes I've turned my nose up, like when she blatantly ripped off Madonna's music and refused to apologize or even admit it, but I had no idea how much she's done for others.

I like her music. I appreciate what she's doing. I didn't see the Super Bowl or the Oscars (I don't watch sporting events, and I fast forward through the musical acts). Not my thing. I love that her name came from that Queen song (that song is a favorite of mine).

Hi Chrys - I too wasn't too impressed with Lady G to start with - but you start to admire these strong people with important messages for us all to think about - we do need to be more open. She has an amazing voice ... cheers Hilary

When I first saw her, I thought...not for me. Then I saw an interview and her singing with Tony Bennett and had to rethink my first impression. She has won me over! Definitely a woman that fits you empowering women posts.sherry @ fundinmental

Not a huge fan of Lady Gaga but do like some of her songs. Thought she was whacked out of her mind for wearing the meat dress. Keep wondering how she went to the bathroom wearing that thing. But that whole I'm not meat message, I get it. Still, a meat dress?

Sadly we've reached a place where costume and outrageous presentation overshadow talent. I call it the Madonna effect. I know nothing about Lady Gaga, but I recently heard that she has been banned from China after meeting with the Dalai Lama. She now has my respect.

Oh, but despite her costumes and outrageous presentations she is extremely talented. For her, it's all a part of the package. She definitely could've rose to fame without all of that, though. Her voice is enough.

Good choice for an inspirational woman, Chrys. I admire her so much. She has done amazing work in a short period of time as well. I also love her jazz collaboration with Tony Bennett. But her social awareness and goal to help young people struggling is most admirable!

I'm not personally a fan of her music (just not my style), but she has an incredible voice and it's awesome that she's willing to make her music and her messages meaningful, especially in a genre of music that's known mostly for just dumbed down lyrics about sex and money.

I think she's incredibly talented and rather attractive under all the facades she uses. She was terrific at the Super Bowl and I was so extremely impressed with the interview she did the day before that I can't recall who she was with!